Processor systems have grown in complexity and sophistication in recent years. Network operators are seeking next-generation solutions, which have increased performance. Such performance enhancements may include additional features and faster speeds, as well as improved manageability and reduced complexity. Increases in performance, in single processor systems, can be achieved without complicating management and adding complexity; this is achieved by upgrading systems to run faster processors as new processors become available. While symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) processors can add more computing power in the way of instructions executed per second, these processors can still be bottlenecked by a single network input/output (IO) interface or by cache-contention when running advanced networking applications.
In many networking applications, relying solely on Moore's law for processor improvements has not kept pace with performance requirements. For these applications, additional scalability is often achieved by introducing loadbalancers that distribute load across multiple systems. A challenge with the multiple system approach is that each system needs its own network layer addressing, and each system must be managed independently, such as for configuration and monitoring.